Attachment is the root of all sorrow

Apparently it's been a contemplative week for me!

Today in our final assembly (hoorah! I'm pretty sure that is one of my last hurrahs, although we'll probably have another long, equally boring and unnecessary one at the beginning of next term - but still, that's not an end of term assembly, is it?) a yr 10 girl in my house spoke about her experience and participation in an international peace camp that met in Nepal for 3 weeks in July. It was amazing and inspiring to hear her talk about how she met with others who shared her goals, but what struck me most was what she said about how she tries to lead her life by three principles, one of which is that attachment is the root of all sorrow. This principle led her to shave her head in order to prove her inner strength in being able to truly separate herself from something she is attached to. This particularly struck me, not only because of my admiration for her in being able to be self assured and comfortable with her principles and her self restraint in being able to follow them, but because I recognised this as a Buddhist thought. I'm not Buddhist, but I agree with and can identify with its basic principles:

• "The greatest achievement is selflessness.
• The greatest worth is self-mastery.
• The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
• The greatest precept is continual awareness.
• The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
• The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
• The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
• The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
• The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
• The greatest patience is humility.
• The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
• The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
• The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
• Atisha.

I've read about these principles because of this interest, and I remembered this particular idea because it made so much sense to me at the time - it was a pinnacle of realisation. Buddhism is something that really helps me keep life in perspective, which is no easy feat when it seems like everything we do right now will impact the rest of our lives - our IAs, how we work these holidays, how we perform in our exams, our ENTER, which university we get into, which course we do, what job we get.

And because I love quotes, and I am an absolute database, here are some of my favourite expressions that help me remain optimistic:

• It all works out in the end. If it's not working out, it's not the end
  
• Life does not place things in front of you that you are unable to handle
  
• Do not dwell in the past, but learn from it; do not dream of the future, but plan for it; concentrate the mind on living in the present moment
  
• When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us
  
• Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps
  
• The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do
  

Of course, poets are often the best source of advice:

• You have brains in your head. Your feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose - a personal favourite from Dr Seuss
  
• What is this life if, full of care,
  We have no time to stand and stare
  A poor life this if, full of care,
  We have no time to stand and stare - W. H. Davies
  
• Always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think - A. A. Milne
  
• When I wish I was rich, then I know I am ill.
  Because, to tell the truth, I have enough as I am.
  So when I catch myself thinking : Ah, if I was rich-!
  I say to myself: Hello! I’m not well. My vitality is low - D. H. Lawrence
  
• To see the world in a grain of sand
  And heaven in a wild flower
  Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
  And eternity in an hour – William Blake

And a word from those philosophical thinkers:

• The heart has its reasons that reason cannot know – Blasé Pascal
  
• The reward of a thing well done is to have done it – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The words I live by, from the lips of a hero:

• No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed to an unchartered land - Helen Keller

And all the small things we sometimes forget:

• Be kind
• Think deeply
• Speak gently
• Love much
• Laugh often
• Work hard
• Give freely

x
Just a girl